(peaceful music) - [Announcer] J Schwanke's Life in Bloom is brought to you by Albertsons Companies with additional support from the following companies the Ball Horticultural Company Cal Flowers Design Master Colortool Golden Flowers Sunshine Bouquet and TheRibbonRoll.com (peaceful music) (peaceful music) - The power of the flower will be undeniable after this episode of Life In Bloom.

We'll learn to Petal It Forward with flowers and how flowers affect our health and wellbeing for the better.

Plus we'll share flowers, eat flowers, and I'll even get a flower tattoo.

(upbeat music) I'm J Schwanke, welcome to Life in Bloom.

"The earth laughs in flowers".

The term flower power came into use in the late 60s and early 70s as part of the opposition to the Vietnam War.

The slogan was coined by Beat poet, Allen Ginsberg in 1965 as a means to transform war protests into peaceful, affirmative spectacles.

The expression was embraced quickly and became a symbol that manifested in many realms.

Bright flowered clothing, flowers in the hair, distributing flowers in public, over time the phrase referred to the counter-culture movement of the late 60s, but the original intention still lives on today.

I strongly believe in the power of flowers, flowers to heal, flowers to cheer, flowers to Petal It Forward.

October 19th is National Petal It Forward Day, it's day set aside and started by the Society of American Florists to encourage us to give flowers to other people.

The reason behind it, is that there's scientific studies that prove that flowers make us feel better.

And Petal It Forward is unique, rather than giving a person one bouquet, you give them two.

The reason that you give them two, is so that they can enjoy one, take it home, and experience the health benefits but also experience the sensation of giving flowers to someone else, that truly is the special part about flowers.

On Life in Bloom I talk a lot about, giving flowers to other people because when we take those flowers and gift them away, they become even more special.

It creates a wonderful sensation for me and the recipient enjoys them too.

If you wanna add a little bit more creativity to it, you can also make them into an arrangement.

By taking flowers, and actually arranging them, cutting the steams, and placing them in a vase, our body actually secretes endorphins that make us feel better.

Gives us a zen like feeling when we're taking the flowers, cutting them and placing them into a vase.

So when you gift the flowers to someone else, and they have the opportunity to make an arrangement with them, it makes them feel better.

That's the great part about flowers, there's a feel good aspect that goes with them.

A scientific study from Rutgers University, tells us that homes that have flowers in them have less arguments, that's a great reason for us to have flowers around the house.

But there's even more health benefits.

People who are surrounded by flowers have less feelings of depression, they feel happier thoughts.

They also surround themselves with more friends.

So flowers are super powerful, no matter how you cut it, whether they're arranging them or giving them as a gift, it's a perfect opportunity for us to make someone's day more special.

And improve their life.

There's also healing aspects that go with flowers.

There's a Boston University study that tells us that people who receive flowers when they're sick, get better faster.

It gets even more interesting when you add in the factor of color.

People who receive yellow flowers, get better faster still.

So whether we're arranging flowers, or giving them as a gift, our opportunity to Petal It Forward with flowers means we're sharing health benefits and happiness, especially when we include them in our Life In Bloom.

(upbeat music) - It is Flower Power Challenge time and so I am going up against some of my friends to do a beautiful flower arrangement, have a crowd vote for the best one and I'm pretty confident that I'm gonna take home 500 bucks for my favorite charity.

- When I won that contest, and $500, I had all the Crashes Landing volunteers in the audience hooting and hollering for me, that's the only reason why I won because they just came in, they were ready to make some noise.

And it just made me feel so good to know that I was giving that money to them and so many kitties were going to be able to be helped with that cash.

- This is my third year doing the floral challenge and it is a major league kick in the plants, I mean it is so much fun.

A lot of tension back stage before we get started, it's just a thrill, it's almost like a sporting event.

- We're gonna kick some butt, I'm gonna take somebody down tonight, last year I was second place to Kim so it's my year this year.

(laughs) I'm gonna bring it.

- Okay well the rules are, they bring out the vase, they have the water, everything all like that is set up, they go ahead and give you the bouquet of flowers, you have five minutes.

- You know it's, I guess if you're looking at like reality TV, like Iron Chef or something like that, it's similar in that you've got no idea what you're working with and you just have to think on your feet, and hopefully it, you create something unique.

- I think we have five minutes to put, our best foot forward line up our, colors, whatever kinds of sides we have, I don't even know what to call it, this is, I'm in big trouble, I don't know what to call any of these things.

Except flowers and sides, it's like I'm making appetizers.

But yeah, we put together our best arrangement in five minutes, hopefully it looks half-way decent, the crowd will decide by volume applause, who's the big winner.

- I think I'm gonna let the flowers speak to me and I think I'm gonna make mine a little symbolic to the, I don't wanna tell my secrets.

Okay, no I'm gonna make mine be a little symbolic to what the charity is that I'm playing for.

- I'm gonna wait to see what J does first because he says he's gonna do a really cool demo, I'm gonna watch what he does and take that in, and then I'm gonna put my twist on it.

(laughs) - So when I approach my arrangement, I try to scope it out while the clock's counting down, and then I go focal, filler, edger, trailer, and hope it comes together in five minutes.

- I'll be the first to admit that flower arrangement's is not one of my strengths, I don't know if I had that many strengths to begin with but flower arrangement's not one of them, try to get better year after year, but at the end of the day we're trying to raise some money for our favorite charity.

- Alright are you ready for the Flower Power Challenge?

(crowed cheering) Today we have five local celebrities that are going to be playing for five local charities.

- That's right people in the community that you probably see maybe on your local news, maybe in your favorite restaurant, these are people who well, are in various stages of their floral careers, shall we put it like that?

(crowd laughing) - It's true, it's true.

And so they are here to make a flower arrangement for a local charity.

We have flowers form all over the planet, both American grown and as far away as Thailand.

- And I think you're gonna go over what the selection is and even do a little lesson in advance.

- I'm gonna coach them just a little bit.

I'll walk you through one, okay?

So that you all have an idea of what we're gonna do.

You have a green bouquet, and a green bouquet is sometimes helpful because it forms structure in our container.

We have different types of things.

We have Matsumoto Asters, they look like this, and those are great because when we stick those in, there are different colors and so we might want to group things together, but we wouldn't have to, you might have some iris in there, and maybe even like colors might go together.

If you're running short on time, you might want to place a whole bunch at once and create a valuable focal interest with that in one spot.

Every one of the people got a bunch of tulips.

Now here's the great thing too, tonight all of you get a bunch of tulips as well.

(crowd cheering and clapping) I know right?

Now here's the best part, not only do you get one for yourself, you get another one.

I encourage you to take one for yourself but also take another one because our tulips are American grown tulips from Arcata California.

And they're here to help us celebrate Women's Day and each and every one of us has a special woman in our life, that has done some miraculous things for us.

The winner gets $500 for their charity.

And each one of our other players, also gets $100 for their charity, because we're glad that they're good sports and they came out tonight.

(clapping) Okay, on your mark, get set, go.

(upbeat music) - [Catherine] You know J you talked about giving out those tulips when we're done, when we give someone flowers it has an impact on the giver and the receiver.

Right, you've talked about that before on TV.

- Absolutely, when we receive flowers, we have happier thoughts, less depression but when you give those flowers, you get that happy smile back at you and you get that great thing.

Now here's the other thing that's happening with these guys right now, one of the things that we know from Rutgers and Boston University studies is, as you're arranging flowers, your body secretes endorphins that make you feel more relaxed, more zen like.

- Not when we have five minutes.

(laughing) - [Catherine] That's not endorphins you're secreting, is what you're telling me.

(upbeat music) - How's it going Paul?

You good?

Alright.

- What's your strategy?

- I'm just following what everyone else is doing.

(laughing) - [Catherine] Is to look around, it's to look around.

(upbeat music) - 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, stop!

(crowd cheering and clapping) - [Catherine] Alright, step away from the tables.

- Alright so you know last year, we narrowed the field to two people.

- Right.

- And was hard for Catherine and I to decide who the winner was, so you're our third.

- Okay.

- Our first person, Chef Jenna.

(crowd cheering) Jennifer Pascua.

(clapping) Alright, ladies and gentlemen, Paul Lee.

(clapping) - Alright, good job Paul.

- Good job Paul.

Ladies and gentlemen, Rick Vuyst.

(crowd cheering) Alright ladies and gentlemen, Dan Harland.

(crowd cheering) Alright so we've narrowed our field to two people, your judges are in complete unanimous decision, Jenna and Rick please come to the front table.

(crowd cheering) Alright, ladies and gentlemen, Chef Jenna.

(crowd cheering) - Loud and sustained.

- That's true, it is true.

- So Mr. Vuyst are you ready?

- I'm ready.

- Okay, ladies and gentlemen, Rick Vuyst.

(crowd cheering) Have to ask, ask Kim.

Our judges are collaborating.

Ladies and gentlemen the winner of the third annual uBloom Flower Power Challenge, $500 goes to our local Gilda's Club and Jenna.

(crowd cheering and clapping) - Congratulations Jenna.

- Now, how about that, I know, right.

- I told these guys before the video that I was gonna bring it.

- You bring it, I mean whether it's lasagna or whether it's flowers, you bring it.

And Gilda's Club, that's awesome.

- Yes, which is really, really cool.

- Well congratulations for winning the third annual Flower Power Challenge.

(upbeat music) Let's bring the power of flowers into your kitchen.

You'll enjoy making, eating, and gifting this simple treat.

Here's a great idea for decorating your cupcakes with fresh flowers.

We went ahead and baked our cupcakes and frosted them.

Now we're gonna use edible flowers.

We have violas and pansies.

Both when grown organically are completely edible.

They have a sweet flavor, it's pretty fun to eat a flower.

And the colors are beautiful so they're gonna be pretty on our cupcakes.

We can do one of two things.

We can arrange them, just like this, on our cupcakes.

That's fun.

Or we can do a sugar coating to them and that's very simple.

We've taking an egg, and separated it, so that we have our egg white.

Then, we brush the egg white onto our flowers.

You wanna make sure that you cover all of the petals, and sometimes the flowers themselves, it takes a little bit to put that egg white on there.

Then, we sprinkle it with sugar.

I just douse it really well and then shake off the excess.

Now we lay those on a paper towel so they can try.

Violas are the same way.

You would let them dry and then place them on top of the cupcakes.

Edible flowers, with or without sugar, make for a fun flower party.

(upbeat music) To tell use more about the power of flowers, I've invited Amanda Gilbert from Happy Henna over to show us how she uses henna to improve people's well being.

So this is a super big treat for me because you're the little girl who grew up next door.

- Yeah.

(laughing) - So you have a career with henna.

And it's so fun.

So we were visiting and we were talking about this and I thought it was a great opportunity for you to tell people a little bit more about henna.

- [Amanda] Yeah.

- So number one, where does henna come from?

- Henna comes from northern Africa and Egypt, some parts of India, anywhere where it's a warmer climate.

- Is it a plant?

- Yeah the plant is called Lawsonia, it is a flowering plant, it grows five to eight feet tall, really beautiful.

- So do they use the flower or the plant to make the henna?

- They use the flower of the plant.

- Okay, and so then, do they dry it?

- Yep, so they lay it out and it dries and then they mush it up so it's a powder.

- Then what do you do with it?

Do you mix it with, water, what do you... - You can mix it with water, the way I like to mix it, is with lemon juice, sugar, a variety of different essential oils, and then I roll it up into these little cones right here.

- Okay.

Why did you start doing henna?

- I started doing henna about six or seven years ago.

I fell in love with the culture of it, the art of it.

When I first applied it on myself, I felt it was very meditative, for me.

- Traditionally this might be used in ceremonies for, the first time I ever saw it was at an Indian wedding.

But you said, you've decided with your business to do it in a different manner, you're doing it for different reasons.

- I fell in love with it because not only was it, meditative for me but I wanted to bring that same experience on other women.

- Ever since I've seen you as a little kid, and whenever I saw you, you were always so happy, you were always so joyful, you were always so kind, and it's just, you're passing this on to people.

So, we have a big event in Grand Rapids called Art Prize and you have entered Art Prize this year with your henna art.

- Yeah.

- Now tell everyone about that.

- Yeah I'm really excited because one of the things that I've been wanting to focus more on are chemo patients, because they are already going through a lot and when they loose their hair, a lot of our hair signifies our beauty, and so being able to put beautiful henna crowns, flower crowns on their heads is a way for them to express themselves, make them feel more confident.

- Oh, that's so awesome, I just love that.

The whole idea behind that is wonderful.

So you did some henna on your hand?

- I did, I did a little bit of henna on my hand.

It goes on like frosting, and then once it dries, in about 20, 30 minutes, you leave it on for at least four to six hours, and then you let it crumble off, you don't want to get it wet for 24 hours, once it crumbles off it leaves a light orange tint, a little bit like you see on this hand and then it gets darker after two days and then lasts about two weeks.

- Wow, so how come I see so many flowers?

I see a lot of flowers in what you do but is that common because of the henna experience?

- Yeah so traditionally in Egypt, northern Africa, India, they use a lot of paisley, floral designs and then in different places you can do different types of art but I really like sticking to the flowers.

- I love that.

Okay so can we do a flower on me?

- Yeah sure!

- Okay, awesome.

- Pull up your... - I can pull up my sleeve.

- The plant Lawsonia is very healing itself, so they used to use the plant for snake bites, they would used to ingest it as well.

- Okay, really, so they would eat it?

- Yeah, they would eat it, you can eat the plant.

It's all safe.

- What color is it?

When it's on the plant?

- It's like a light pinkish color.

- [J] Okay.

It's beautiful.

- [Amanda] Yeah.

- I can't wait to see your Art Prize exhibit.

That's going to be wonderful.

- Yeah, thank you.

- And thank you for coming and showing us this, I appreciate it so much.

- Yeah.

- We have a tradition.

- Okay.

- When you come, we have flower crowns.

- Oh these are gorgeous.

- I know, so this one's for you, this one's for me.

- These are fun.

It looks pretty good right?

- [J] Yeah, I think it looks good.

- Yeah?

(laughs) - Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

(upbeat music) Rosemary plants are fun to have around the house.

Not only do they have a great fragrance, they can hang out in the kitchen, where we can trim off them to make delicious recipes.

Rosemary isn't a flower per say, rather it's a woody, perineal herb, with fragrant needle-like leaves.

But it does flower.

Rosemary's an annual plant where frost and snow occur, it doesn't have time to become root bound.

However in some areas like California, rosemary plants can live for years, even decades, and you can delight with the small blue, purple, or pink flowers.

In some studies, smelling rosemary increased memory by up to 75%, this is a notable discovery, especially for those suffering from memory impairments.

It's especially amazing that's it's been found to improve future memory.

Research proves that participants who sniffed rosemary essential oil or were placed in a room scented with rosemary experienced significantly increased alertness.

Here's some tips for helping your flowers last longer.

Use the flower food, it feeds your flowers and reduces bacteria growth.

For fuzzy stem flowers like gerberas, they create bacteria faster.

Use a gerbera pill, this helps reduce bacteria as well.

Cut your stems with a sharp knife, a 45 degree angle is best.

Remove any leaves that fall below the water line.

With roses, a rose stripper helps remove thorns and leaves, clean flowers last longer.

As you can see, the power of flowers is deep and far reaching.

If affects our health and well-being for the better.

For Life in Bloom, I'm J Schwanke, see you next time.

Amanda thanks so much for coming and sharing this with us.

- Yeah.

I appreciate it so much.

- Thanks for having me.

- So we have a tradition.

- Okay.

- When you come, we have flower crowns.

- Oh these are gorgeous.

(laughs) - I know so this one's for you, this one's for me.

- These are fun.

- 'Cuz you always feel good when you have flowers on your head, right?

- Oh yeah, always.

- I hope I did pretty good with getting your size, did I do pretty well with size for you?

- It looks pretty good right?

- Yeah, I think it looks good.

- Yeah?

- Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

- Here let me see, let me see where I have front and back, 'cuz sometimes I make it into a little bow.

- Oh there we go.

- There we go.

- Yay!

- Oh, now it's better, that's good.

Well thanks so much, I appreciate it.

Oh you're the best.

J Schwanke's Life In Bloom is filmed in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

- [Announcer] J Schwanke's Life in Bloom is brought to you by Albertsons Companies with additional support from the following companies the Ball Horticultural Company Cal Flowers Design Master Colortool Golden Flowers Sunshine Bouquet and TheRibbonRoll.com Closed caption funding provided by Chrysal.

For everything flowers, recipes, projects and more information, visit uBloom.com (upbeat music)